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Dr. Adrian V. S. Lambert was born in New York City
on June 30, 1872. Four years after graduation from Yale, he received, in 1896,
his M.D. degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia
University. During internship at New York Hospital, loss of his right eye due
to infection during surgery did not alter his determination in pursuit of
excellence. He spent the following year learning to adapt the use of one eye to
two hands, while pursuing his medical studies in Munich, Vienna, and Berlin. He
then returned to New York and embarked on a career which soon made him one of
that city's leading surgeons. His diverse interest encompassed many fields but
none attracted him more than the desire to teach. In spite of a busy surgical
practice, he followed this bent throughout his life.
From 1900 to 1905, he demonstrated anatomy at the College of Physicians
and Surgeons and his residents can readily attest to his insistence on
proficiency in this area. His surgical prowess was a picture of constant
progress and thorough devotion. In many hospitals, including Bellevue,
Roosevelt, Lincoln, and Presbyterian, he rose through the ranks and, at the
latter institution, became Surgical Director in 1917. During these years he was
at all times a busy innovator. In anesthesiology, he sparked the movement to
teach nurse anesthetists, a profound contribution to the war effort. Later he
was the guiding hand and, personally, one of the financial fathers of the
School of Anesthesia at Bellevue under Dr. Rovenstine, which contributed
enormously to the success of its thoracic and other surgical services.
Into his spare time, Dr.
Lambert crowded other work. He translated the French monograph of Anne Carrel
and Dakin and established, at the Rockefeller Institute, a ward for applying
the method in treating wounds. He practiced neurosurgery for some time and,
with others, did considerable experimental and clinical research on the anatomy
of cerebral pathways and ventricles and surgical treatment of hydrocephalus. He
antedated Lane by using aluminum plates for internal fixation of fractures. In
spite of these and many other contributions, his greatest interest was in
thoracic surgery and his efforts inevitably became channeled to this field. His
is a story of singular devotion which brought success against great odds.
It was Dr. Lambert's infant daughter Mary who, in 1908, was operated on
for Melena neonatorum by Dr. Carrel (See Vascular Surgery, Pg. 89). This
experience brought Lambert in direct conflict with the then current tide
against vivisection in New York, which culminated in his taking the one-year
old child to Albany. There he told how her life had been saved only by Dr.
Carrel's work in experimental dog surgery. This dramatically ended any serious
legislative efforts in New York to rule out vivisection.
Dr. Lambert was appointed to the Surgical Staff of Bellevue Hospital in
1905. During the following years, he witnessed daily the sad plight of patients
with tuberculosis or other pulmonary disease. He knew intimately Dr. James
Miller's heart-breaking struggle to bring some order out of the chaos. In 1914,
Lambert detailed his operation for achalasia of the esophagus. Early in his
career, he had been eager to apply thoracoplasty and phrenic paralysis,
thoracoscopy and other procedures to the various problems of tuberculosis. Yet
it was not until 1921 that authorities succumbed to his determined pleadings
and permitted establishment of a thoracic surgical service at Bellevue. Then he
was able to complete the first thoracoplasty at that hospital, one of the first
performed in New York. Under many adverse conditions, such as using borrowed
beds, he continued to teach both the visiting and resident staff. Usually, he
supported the effort with funds donated by himself or by friends. Heencouraged research,
being also a tireless contributor. In this area, one of his outstanding
accomplishments was to aid in establishment of the cardio-pulmonary laboratory
which has had such an illustrious record under Drs. Cournand and Richards.
However, it took almost 35 years of relentless work before he saw success with
his own chest surgical service. His lifelong devotion to thoracic surgery
brought Dr. Adrian Lambert the AATS Presidency in 1940.
This dedicated teacher died in 1952, leaving behind a long list of
grateful trainees. He had, however, long before summarized his own philosophy
with these words written in 1918:
When I returned from Europe I had the ambition to make a living. I
thought it would be a difficult thing to do, and a proper, decent thing to do.
I took an active part in teaching. This had really always interested me and I
have been doing it ever since. I have never become a great or brilliant
teacher, although rather better than the average, but not much. I have always
hoped to become better but doubt now if I ever shall. I have always desired to
do some original research but among the many other duties which seemed
necessary I have not made the time. I have no hobbies or special interests
outside of my work and would qualify rather well among that vast army of
uninteresting, colorless citizens who lead humdrum lives, keep out of scandal,
die and are forgotten.
Dr. Adrian V. S. Lambert
